Lt Cdr Data
om
ok the musical fidelity x-lp has arrived.
this is the first one they did.
to summarise, MF did a few phonostages, from the x series, and I think these are absolute works of art, the build is beautiful, solid thick cases that look like a star trek shuttle craft, with a lovely think aluminium front panel
there was the x.lp mine,
xlp s, 2nd installment, said to be better, may get one to compare
xlp dual mono, not sure about this inside, perhaps 2x xlps
and finally apart from the kwphonostage, there is the xlps v3.
Well its not a patch on the dv, I have identified one of the things that divides phonostages, more later.
The mf is VERY euphonic, is sounds nice, soft laid back, easy to listen to.
it has a nn5534 stage with active riaa, ie a filter in the feedback loop of the opamp to tailor the response to the riaa curve, rather than doing it 'passively' between 2 opamp stages.
the best ones I have heard have been passive, active ones give that transistor sound, dryer, tighter.
But the slee is active and sounds nothing like the stereotype.
anyway, that does the mm bit, prior to that, a matched transistor stage bumps the gain upto mc level, adding x10 I think for lower voltage cartridges. lots of psu filtering inside, its a very well thought out design.
i am not convinced tho its better as touted than integrated amp phonostages, using MUCH the same circuit, caps and chips, but it is quiet in use. bass is soft.
now what tells these apart....its AMBIENCE and clarity, the dv, and more so the slee has it in spades, space around the notes and reverberation, its just not present in the cheaper ones even tho they are enjoyable.( and interestingly too, I have found this true of mm v mc cartridges, for some reason, I don't really like most mm's, shure and cart man may be different, but they seem a bit sat on and laid back wihtout the clarity and space/ambience of a good mc, so to summarise, get a cheap mm and an mf phonostage, you get a euphonic laid back dryish sound, but get a top end phonostage and mc, and the clarity/ambience/space comes in spades ,its a totally different listen)
substituing the ortofon t3000 £1500 silver wired transformer regains a lot of thwack and ambience that the mc mf stage can't come close to. then trying the mm stage of the slee is just about the best vinyl sound i have heard in terms of space, I just have to get my paws on slee's mc active amp, and compare that to the transformer method!! should be interesting, slee says peoples report its better than even the most expensive transformer step ups. I don't think many mm stages can come close to the slee, and can't wait for his mc stage.
other ones on my list are the mf kw phono, and the rotel michi, but I really think the slee will be the best. I have more transformers to try, but may not bother if the slee mc is better. I do like transformers, they are very complex and interesting, more than meets the eye, horridly complex to understand properly.
this is the first one they did.
to summarise, MF did a few phonostages, from the x series, and I think these are absolute works of art, the build is beautiful, solid thick cases that look like a star trek shuttle craft, with a lovely think aluminium front panel
there was the x.lp mine,
xlp s, 2nd installment, said to be better, may get one to compare
xlp dual mono, not sure about this inside, perhaps 2x xlps
and finally apart from the kwphonostage, there is the xlps v3.
Well its not a patch on the dv, I have identified one of the things that divides phonostages, more later.
The mf is VERY euphonic, is sounds nice, soft laid back, easy to listen to.
it has a nn5534 stage with active riaa, ie a filter in the feedback loop of the opamp to tailor the response to the riaa curve, rather than doing it 'passively' between 2 opamp stages.
the best ones I have heard have been passive, active ones give that transistor sound, dryer, tighter.
But the slee is active and sounds nothing like the stereotype.
anyway, that does the mm bit, prior to that, a matched transistor stage bumps the gain upto mc level, adding x10 I think for lower voltage cartridges. lots of psu filtering inside, its a very well thought out design.
i am not convinced tho its better as touted than integrated amp phonostages, using MUCH the same circuit, caps and chips, but it is quiet in use. bass is soft.
now what tells these apart....its AMBIENCE and clarity, the dv, and more so the slee has it in spades, space around the notes and reverberation, its just not present in the cheaper ones even tho they are enjoyable.( and interestingly too, I have found this true of mm v mc cartridges, for some reason, I don't really like most mm's, shure and cart man may be different, but they seem a bit sat on and laid back wihtout the clarity and space/ambience of a good mc, so to summarise, get a cheap mm and an mf phonostage, you get a euphonic laid back dryish sound, but get a top end phonostage and mc, and the clarity/ambience/space comes in spades ,its a totally different listen)
substituing the ortofon t3000 £1500 silver wired transformer regains a lot of thwack and ambience that the mc mf stage can't come close to. then trying the mm stage of the slee is just about the best vinyl sound i have heard in terms of space, I just have to get my paws on slee's mc active amp, and compare that to the transformer method!! should be interesting, slee says peoples report its better than even the most expensive transformer step ups. I don't think many mm stages can come close to the slee, and can't wait for his mc stage.
other ones on my list are the mf kw phono, and the rotel michi, but I really think the slee will be the best. I have more transformers to try, but may not bother if the slee mc is better. I do like transformers, they are very complex and interesting, more than meets the eye, horridly complex to understand properly.
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